View topic - New Article: Stillers-Browns Postgame Analysis and Grades

[StillMill Profile]

Stillers-Browns Postgame Analysis and Grades has been posted by Still Mill at Stillers.com.

[gburg_steeler Profile]

Assuming the 'PoeBirds' means the Ravens and assuming they win next weekend; they would play the Titans. If Miami wins, we would play them.

[Leo Profile]

Assuming the 'PoeBirds' means the Ravens and assuming they win next weekend; they would play the Titans. If Miami wins, we would play them.

True. GO FISH

[zapunto Profile]

We have no idea why Arians is in love with McHugh playing FB over Davis. At 6-5”, McHugh is too tall to play FB and get LOW, with leverage, as a lead blocker. This is just another Arians playtoy fetish that, while cute and clever, serves no purpose.

I'm going to disagree here, for a bunch of reasons:

-- Traditionally everyone looks for the short stocky FB that delivers crushing blocks at the point of attack, but a lot of teams are getting by by using a decent H-Back. Some linebackers often complain that a taller FB is harder to deal with, because you can't see a 5'10" Fast Willie running behind a 6'5" fullback.

-- Some teams, like the Giants, have had success with the bigger FBs. Madison Hedgecock is 6'3", 265 and has now blocked for three different 1,000 yard rushers in the past three years (Jacobs, Ward, and S-Jax).

-- McHugh was a decent fullback during his years at Penn State, and did ok with the Lions in the position. He has just as much college and pro-experience in the position as Carey Davis.

-- You've had nothing bad to say about McHugh's blocking yourself. In the first game versus the Ravens, you wrote "Sean McHugh had a great lead block from the FB spot in the 1Q, leading Mendy on a 12-yard gain.. In today's writeup, you write "He did have a rare, solid lead on Parker’s 8-yard run on 3d & 1 on the 1st series. I don't know what you meant by "rare", but I didn't remember seeing any whiffs or bad blocks by McHugh in the game.

-- I like the roster flexibility a H-Back gives a team. One could argue that next year Carey Davis has no business on the roster because we are already stacked with running backs.

But I don't want to be accused of being Mrs. McHugh or anything, so I digress. We can speculate here as much as we want, but the bottom line is McHugh can either do the job, or he can't, and judging from what I saw yesterday, he didn't embarrass himself yesterday.

[LloydHaveMercy Profile]

Does anyone else think that Ben acts like a baby most of the time he's hit? I know it's a bad time to bring it up because he was just carted off of the field, but throughout his career he's always grabbing his hand, wrist, knee, ankle, etc...after each time he's touched. The only time he doesn't is when they're in the 2 minute drill and he can't waste time.

Even the hit yesterday, which looked damn painful, shouldn't have necessitated a gurney. People end up with concussions all of the time and he needs to be down on the field for fifteen minutes?!?! Right after the hit you can see him grabbing his helmet and rolling over - why did they think he needed to be stabalized? Shit, the AP even reported that other Steeler players didn't even seem interested when he was down.

Believe it or not, I think Ben's an awesome QB and I shouldn't complain but I'm tired of seeing, and hearing, him act like he's always hurt. Remember his rookie year when he said he had broken toes but when they mentioned that to Cowher he told everyone he's fine. How does that get misconstrued?

[StillDodger Profile]

I would have tacked on a "-" (minus) to HC Tomlin's grade for Ben's injury in a meaningless game. Sure this is hindsight, but a key player should never be subjected to potential disaster.

In regard to Ben, I *still* think he's been "damaged goods" since the MC accident, the flashes of brilliance notwithstanding. He just doesn't react instinctively like he did before the MC accident. The question is whether "damaged Ben" is better or worse than Leftwich. I've teetered on this one, giving Ben benefit of doubt.

But as of right now, I'd start Lefty, because I don't think Ben will be game-ready (damaged or not) in two weeks. (If it's a team other than the Fish, the opp. defense will be a monster against our OL.) I'd only put in Ben if Lefty is ineffective for at least a quarter and a half.

[StillDodger Profile]

Even the hit yesterday, which looked damn painful, shouldn't have necessitated a gurney.

Thank God you're not a trainer......

And what does a use of a stretcher/cart have to do with a player being a "baby???" After a hit like that, would you rather risk a player's career by forcing him to go off under his own power?? Nobody, including the player that was hit, knows what may have actually happened. And presuming otherwise is sheer idiocy.

[StillQ Profile]

As much as I hate Arians, I must somewhat defend him with the spike. They switched in personnel post-spike. So is having short yardage team in there on first down worth running the play?

[Radconpro Profile]

I think the biggest issue is the USE of a FULLBACK!! The Titans scored on us in the game the week before because of a FAKE handoff to the FULLBACK and then the pitch to the other back. Arians IS a complete buffoon but there is no use firing him until the season is over. He SUCKED when he was at Cleveland........bring back Mike Mularkey!

[Radconpro Profile]

I watch ALL of the other playoff teams and guess what...they use a FULLBACK all of the time or most of the time...Arians is the only moron OC who doesn't like a fullback......Maybe Tomlin is pushing him to use a fullback more.....we can only hope!

[rifraff Profile]

You just have to spike the ball in those situations!

Do you realize how much time it takes to look at the play sheet and find a play that is not checked off????

Must try a new play, something not seen before to maybe catch them off guard!

Hey, the spike is a play, at the time, thats not been checked off Ok, check that one off.

At the end of the day u measure success by a totally checked off play sheet.

[Scutum Profile]

Wasn't Danny Kreider just released by St. Louis a couple weeks ago?

I have to agree with Zapunto. I think it's clear that having a fullback and running out of the 'I' has been successful for the Steelers in the past, and has been successful for most of the playoff teams this year. I didn't see any big mistakes by McHugh either, and having him in the huddle keeps the defense guessing a bit more and allows more flexibility for audibles by the QB.

The devil's advocate position for Arians is tenuous. In his defense, execution hasn't been at all sharp by much of the offense. How many big plays and TD passes have been called back by holding calls? How many drops? Ben hasn't been exactly Mr. Accuracy throwing the ball. Run blocking? So I can't put it all on The Bruce. But then again... I really don't know what he's thinking half the time.

LeBeau is easier to defend. Seriously, how much better does the defense need to be before Mill accepts that he simply hasn't gotten lucky for all 16 games of the toughest schedule in the NFL? There are 31 other teams with worse overall execution, every one of them playing an easier schedule. Which of those other DC's would Mill rather have? I understand that we have high expectations of Stiller defense, and this one has been far from perfect, but they were a lot closer to it than any other team in the league this year, and considering the schedule, a lot of the comparisons to other great defenses were certainly warranted. No matter how much you dislike the man, for whatever reason - and considering the results - at some point constantly belittling the product he is putting on the field runs contrary to the purpose and credibility of your analysis

[StillMill Profile]

We have no idea why Arians is in love with McHugh playing FB over Davis. At 6-5”, McHugh is too tall to play FB and get LOW, with leverage, as a lead blocker. This is just another Arians playtoy fetish that, while cute and clever, serves no purpose.

I'm going to disagree here, for a bunch of reasons:

-- Traditionally everyone looks for the short stocky FB that delivers crushing blocks at the point of attack, but a lot of teams are getting by by using a decent H-Back. Some linebackers often complain that a taller FB is harder to deal with, because you can't see a 5'10" Fast Willie running behind a 6'5" fullback.

-- Some teams, like the Giants, have had success with the bigger FBs. Madison Hedgecock is 6'3", 265 and has now blocked for three different 1,000 yard rushers in the past three years (Jacobs, Ward, and S-Jax).

-- McHugh was a decent fullback during his years at Penn State, and did ok with the Lions in the position. He has just as much college and pro-experience in the position as Carey Davis.

-- You've had nothing bad to say about McHugh's blocking yourself. In the first game versus the Ravens, you wrote "Sean McHugh had a great lead block from the FB spot in the 1Q, leading Mendy on a 12-yard gain.. In today's writeup, you write "He did have a rare, solid lead on Parker’s 8-yard run on 3d & 1 on the 1st series. I don't know what you meant by "rare", but I didn't remember seeing any whiffs or bad blocks by McHugh in the game.

-- I like the roster flexibility a H-Back gives a team. One could argue that next year Carey Davis has no business on the roster because we are already stacked with running backs.

But I don't want to be accused of being Mrs. McHugh or anything, so I digress. We can speculate here as much as we want, but the bottom line is McHugh can either do the job, or he can't, and judging from what I saw yesterday, he didn't embarrass himself yesterday.

I'm going to disagree here, Ms. McHugh , for a bunch of reasons:

1. "Traditionally everyone looks for the short stocky FB that delivers crushing blocks at the point of attack." Correct. Blocking from the FB spot is all about LEVERAGE. Lower man wins. "Some linebackers often complain that a taller FB is harder to deal with, because you can't see a 5'10" Fast Willie running behind a 6'5" fullback." Bullshit. That's a farcical fable, and we don't bandy those about here at Stillers.com. You must have picked up that line of balderdash from Teresa Varley or some other daft simpleton. There are FIVE (5) O-lineman that are plenty tall enough to obsucre the RB. AND, most LBs will key off the FB anyway....follow the FB, and the RB is likely to follow. Or, if the RB cuts away from the RB, then it doesn't matter if the FB is 6-9" tall, because the RB will be in plain view of at least 10 defenders.

2. "Some teams, like the Giants, have had success with the bigger FBs. Madison Hedgecock is 6'3", 265 and has now blocked for three different 1,000 yard rushers in the past three years (Jacobs, Ward, and S-Jax). " Hedgecock is ENORMOUS for his height and position. He's 2 inches shorter than your buddy McPugh, which is a big difference in getting low and getting leverage. Hedge is an anomoly, of course. Zo Neal is THE prototype NFL FB, as was Krieder in his prime. There is a reason for that. Leverage wins. There are damn few tall, gangly, giraffe-like FBs in the NFL.

3. "McHugh was a decent fullback during his years at Penn State, and did ok with the Lions in the position. He has just as much college and pro-experience in the position as Carey Davis." Jon Wittman was a "decent FB" at Penn Bate as well. And I could give a shit. He sucked in the NFL. Too tall to get LEVERAGE. And there is a reason why you rarely see 6-3" FBs, nor 6-3" OTs, nor 6-0" OLBs in the NFL, despite being able to find them all over the NCAA, which has about 120 teams comprised of 85-man rosters.

4. "I like the roster flexibility a H-Back gives a team. One could argue that next year Carey Davis has no business on the roster because we are already stacked with running backs." Roster flex for DEPTH is fine. That doesn't mean McPugh should be starting at FB over Davis, who (Davis) is clearly the better blocker at THAT position. An idiot could argue that next year Carey Davis has no business on the roster because we are already stacked with running backs. The wise analyst will argue that we'll be stacked at RB, but not FB.

5. "You've had nothing bad to say about McHugh's blocking yourself." Bullshit. Read the TITANS post-game report, which very clearly stated, "Not to be outdone, Sean McPugh gave a pussyfied effort on a 2d & goal plunge in which he allowed Thornton to storm right by him and blister Parker. This was as ballsucking a block as you can make. I honestly would use this kind of shit effort to send a message to the team by sending this sorry bastard packing on Monday."

Sure, McHugh didn't embarass himself on Sunday. Neither did Ty Carter. Nor did Keyaron Fox at ILB. I assume by that standard of yours that you'd be perfectly happy to have any of those other 2 fellows start in the Div playoff game.

[StillMill Profile]

I didn't see any big mistakes by McHugh either, and having him in the huddle keeps the defense guessing a bit more and allows more flexibility for audibles by the QB.

Yeah, that McHugh guy......every bit as dangerous as Ozzie Newsome was in his prime, as well as Kellen Winslow Sr. Armed with clodhopping 4.9 speed, he really keeps them defenses guessing! You'll recall all the Titans defenders yelling over to Fisher and pleading to him in the beatdown 10 days ago, "Coach Fisher, McHugh is in the huddle! It's 2nd & goal -- what do we do ?? How can we defend against McHugh? Send out a 12th player to help us!!"

The devil's advocate position for Arians is tenuous.

It's not tenuous -- it's fuking stupid. It's as assaholic as McCain's assertion of "The fundamentals of the economy are strong" Arians has always been, is, and will always be a complete FUCK UP. Taking any devil's advocate position against a man who could fuck up the making of a peanut-butter sandwich is sheer asininity.

LeBeau is easier to defend. Seriously, how much better does the defense need to be before Mill accepts that he simply hasn't gotten lucky for all 16 games of the toughest schedule in the NFL? There are 31 other teams with worse overall execution, every one of them playing an easier schedule. Which of those other DC's would Mill rather have? I understand that we have high expectations of Stiller defense, and this one has been far from perfect, but they were a lot closer to it than any other team in the league this year, and considering the schedule, a lot of the comparisons to other great defenses were certainly warranted. No matter how much you dislike the man, for whatever reason - and considering the results - at some point constantly belittling the product he is putting on the field runs contrary to the purpose and credibility of your analysis

Lick LeBeau has been BLESSED with a very talented, VERY experienced defense, WITH PLENTY OF DEPTH to boot. Look at the list of first-rate, in-prime players --

Aaron Smith
Harrison
Timmons
Woodley
Pola
McFadden

And there are plenty of solid 2nd tier players in support. He wasn't given a plethora of greenhorns, or 7th round scrubs. He was given the best race car available and told to run it fast. Big fuking deal. And he did it WEEKLY, against offenses that were inept, injury-depleted, green with inexperience, or ALL 3. EVERY week, except one -- versus the Titans, where he had the ball jammed down his thorat like a $10 whore. See me at the end of January and we'll see how good Dick's defense looks.

[Jeemie Profile]

I watch ALL of the other playoff teams and guess what...they use a FULLBACK all of the time or most of the time...Arians is the only moron OC who doesn't like a fullback......Maybe Tomlin is pushing him to use a fullback more.....we can only hope!

You must not have watched hard.

Colts rarely use a FB.

[LloydHaveMercy Profile]

Even the hit yesterday, which looked damn painful, shouldn't have necessitated a gurney.

Thank God you're not a trainer......

And what does a use of a stretcher/cart have to do with a player being a "baby???" After a hit like that, would you rather risk a player's career by forcing him to go off under his own power?? Nobody, including the player that was hit, knows what may have actually happened. And presuming otherwise is sheer idiocy.

Yes, tell Ben to stop acting like a pussy and get his sorry ass up. Yeah I'm sure he's really going to risk his career by standing up after he got sacked (after which, he was rolling over). If the 21 other players on the field reacted to hits like Ben, the game would take 4 days to finish.

For fuck sake, the hospital kicked him out without keeping him overnight, when everyone on the planet knows the most dangerous time of a concussion is at night and that you're not supposed to sleep. If he was in any danger at all, they would have kept him. Obviously they had more time to check him out than the trainers on the field, but I still don't remember anyone getting carted off after bumping their head. Ask Wes Welker...

[LloydHaveMercy Profile]

And there are plenty of solid 2nd tier players in support. He wasn't given a plethora of greenhorns, or 7th round scrubs. He was given the best race car available and told to run it fast. Big fuking deal. And he did it WEEKLY, against offenses that were inept, injury-depleted, green with inexperience, or ALL 3. EVERY week, except one -- versus the Titans, where he had the ball jammed down his thorat like a $10 whore. See me at the end of January and we'll see how good Dick's defense looks.

Mill is right that LeBeau has been really lucky this season missing a lot of the best players he should have had to face. But I do want to point out that the defense was put in some terrible situations due to a terrible offense. It's borderline unfair how many times the D had to step up and force a FG or create a TO. And let's not forget that our punting wasn't helping the cause either.

Yeah, LeBeau got lucky with some other players being injured, but was really unlucky having a shitty O and bad punting. To finish the season leading every statistical category is an accomplishment and does say something for that D.

In the end, ask yourself how much better you could have expected the D to play? 13.9 PPG and 237 YPG?

[TallyStiller Profile]

Couple of thoughts... 1. no comment whatsoever on the play where Ben was injured vis a vis the line play? Just curious as to your opinions... did he hold the ball too long, or was there a breakdown somewhere in the blocking scheme

2. Ben stayed down, according to reports, because of numbness in his hands. It's what you're supposed to do. Saw a high school game this year where a kid lost his helmet, got hit with another guy's helmet on his uncovered head... couple of morons carried him off the field. Kid went into shock, stopped breathing. His brother had to perform mouth to mouth on the sideline for almost a minute to keep the kid alive. Whether it's neck or head, no need to take chances, especially given Ben's history. Although Willie McGinest doesn't hit as hard as a Chrysler, better safe than permanently injured.

[logjammin Profile]

5. "You've had nothing bad to say about McHugh's blocking yourself." Bullshit. Read the TITANS post-game report, which very clearly stated, "Not to be outdone, Sean McPugh gave a pussyfied effort on a 2d & goal plunge in which he allowed Thornton to storm right by him and blister Parker. This was as ballsucking a block as you can make. I honestly would use this kind of shit effort to send a message to the team by sending this sorry bastard packing on Monday."

You're not likely to win an argument against MIll by saying, "You've had nothing bad to say about..."

[No l Gravity l Profile]

I watch ALL of the other playoff teams and guess what...they use a FULLBACK all of the time or most of the time...Arians is the only moron OC who doesn't like a fullback......Maybe Tomlin is pushing him to use a fullback more.....we can only hope!

You must not have watched hard.

Colts rarely use a FB.

Yeah we're all scared of that Colts run game